Showdown
by TheNightshade43
Summary: Hypnos and Cyclone, Robotnik's new Anthro allies, must retreive a power gem. Unfortunately a Neutral Anthro named Shade also has his eyes on the gem. This Shade is an OC of my friend, not the Shade you all know and love


Shade belongs to ~Argol

Cyclone belongs to ~JayJay88

Hypnos belongs to ~Nightshade43 (me)

It was late in the afternoon, the orange sun lazily making its way towards the horizon. The forest was thick, emerald trees and vines taking up whatever space was available. The canopy of the deep forest permitted strong rays of light, casting the forest in streams of bold orange.

There was little noise, as most of the native wildlife were about to turn in for the night. Deep within the forest stood a small hollow cave, which seemed to meld in with the leaf litter around it.

A small menacing figure, roughly half the height of a man, strolled out of the cave. He was a mixture of greys, blacks and whites, with pale ivory coloured spines on his head and neck. These spines were fashioned into an over-grown mo-hawk, making him look even fiercer. Not that he needed any help in that department. His arms were armoured with mechanical plates, which ended with sharp-edged white gloves. Even his red and grey shoes were spiked. And his eyes were onyx coloured, the centre of his eyes brightening to fiery red orbs that showed little compassion.

Despite the creature's appearance he seemed to be in good spirits. His long barbed tail swayed slowly from side to side as he left the cave. His metallic arms were crossed in front, half concealing the thin red circle around his grey chest. His fanged mouth curved to a small grin as he chuckled slightly.

"Hmph. That was almost too easy." He sneered lightly as he turned to face the cave. He waited for a few seconds before adding, "You coming Hypnos or what?"

'_I am coming Cyclone'. _A passive voice answered from within the darkness of the cave. A second, more cautious figure slowly walked out into the open.

While Cyclone either resembled a hedgehog or an echidna, this creature didn't seem to fit in any known animal category. He was roughly the same height as his companion, but the deep sapphire spines on his head and back curved high and long, making him appear taller than he actually was. He was mostly black in colour, with purple covering his muzzle, lower legs, upper arms and two arching horns which faced forwards on his skull. Instead of a nose, a long deep blue horn grew in its place. His hook-shaped tail twitched as his eyes began to adjust to the light.

His eyes opened fully as they took in the light, showing bright aqua centres, which stood out from the deep greys of the rest of his eyes.

"You've got the gem right?" Cyclone asked casually. Hypnos nodded, looking down at his dark clawed hands. They were up until recently closely cupped together, now opening a little to reveal a small gem. It sparkled bright maroon in the light.

'_I wonder why Dr Robotnic wants this particular gem…' _Hypnos mused in curiosity.

"It doesn't matter _why_ he wants it," Cyclone replied, "As long as there's something in it for us he can do whatever he wants with it." He paused before adding, "You should keep it in the mean time, without pockets I'd probably lose it." Hypnos nodded once again.

'_As you wish Cyclone'._ He answered, channelling his thoughts into his comrade's mind. Uniquely, Hypnos didn't have a mouth, so instead of talking, he communicated by channelling thoughts into whoever he wished. This method of telepathy only works one way, so he cannot read the minds of others, although he can read their emotions.

Hypnos placed the maroon gem into the mechanical belt which wrapped around his waist, the aqua swirl on his chest moving slightly as he did so. Cyclone looked around at the scenery in mild contempt. Without anything to fight he was quickly growing restless.

"Let's leave this snooze-fest!" Cyclone announced impatiently as he turned to leave.

'_It is almost nightfall,'_ Hypnos noted as he caught up to his friend, _'do you think we'll make it by then?'_ Cyclone stopped, glancing back at him.

"Huh, you think we're going to _walk_ all the way back do you?" He scoffed softly, amused at the very idea. Hypnos was taken aback.

'_Well, no…'_ He replied; reminding himself the word 'subtle' was not in his friend's vocabulary. With the slightest of gestures Cyclone propelled himself into the air, controlling the flow of air currents around him. Almost hesitantly Hypnos spread out his spines and leapt into the air. Instantly he felt the tug from the air currents, keeping him high off the ground. With his friend around Hypnos could fly instead of being content to glide from tree to tree like he usually did.

Under Cyclone's command they flew into the sky, picking up speed as they rose towards the canopy. Hypnos stiffened his spines as he curved them around him, making his flight as streamlined as possible. For a while the two remained silent, content to let the currents pull at their fur.

Cyclone felt a disturbance in the air, causing him to halt without warning. He was so pre-occupied by it that Hypnos was forced to drop down onto a sturdy tree branch nearby. Hypnos could sense his friend's uneasiness, which almost bordered on annoyance. Manipulating his spines, Hypnos climbed towards the canopy, shaking off the sudden shock of almost gliding into a tree.

'_Is something wrong Cyclone?'_ He prodded, staying a short distance away from him.

"Something's coming this way." Cyclone replied quickly while trying to pinpoint the source of the disturbance. "Whatever it is it's huge!"-

Suddenly enormous arms of darkness appeared, cutting Cyclone's sentence short. The two comrades had barely enough time to avoid the multitude of arms, which grabbed at them with incredible speed. They headed towards the forest floor, dodging their mysterious attackers. As they reached to the forest floor the arms retreated, fading to their unknown origins.

Cyclone leapt onto a large jagged rock, barely keeping his anger in check. He wasn't too happy about being ambushed. Hypnos' movements were much more reserved, though as he stood up his spines snaked in the air slightly in apprehension. Someone chuckled in amusement, causing the two comrades to face the source of the sound.

"What's so funny?" Cyclone snarled savagely, clenching his fists at the unknown stranger. In reply, a mysterious figure faded into sight, seemingly coming out of the trees around him. He was a multitude of blues and greys, which melded into one another effortlessly. His shoes and hands were a dull black and white, suiting the individual rather well. His spines fanned around his head, and were pale deep blue.

His eyes, though, were void of any colour. The emptiness of them stunned Hypnos into a startled silence.

"Oh," The figure replied casually, "just the thought of how easy it would be to defeat some of Eggman's goons."

Cyclone calmed down slightly, though was still a little steamed.

"We're not goons!" Cyclone scoffed, "We're way too strong for that title. And besides, we do whatever we want, whenever we want; he doesn't control us."

"So then you must be the infamous Cyclone then?" The stranger prodded lightly.

"What's it to you?" Cyclone snapped back, "Are you one of Sonic's goody-two-shoe pals?" He added with a sneer.

The figure chuckled once again, amused by Cyclone's attitude.

"I don't work well with others." The stranger replied, moving away from the trees. "I have many names," He added slowly, "but I am known as Shade."

Hypnos was curious; the stranger had sounded a little sad in his last comment.

'_Why are you here?'_ Hypnos asked, startling Shade with his telepathy.

"I've been watching you for a while now…" Shade answered smoothly, trying to mask his shock. "…and I know one of you has a power gem in their possession." He moved closer, remaining within the shadows of the forest.

"And let me guess," Cyclone interrupted, "you want it too?"

"Exactly." Shade chided. "Now, you're probably not the kind to just surrender so I'll just skip the pointless negotiations for now." With that said he faded into the shadows, his empty eyes disappearing last of all.

Without hesitation Cyclone prepared himself, levitating a few feet off the rock and gathering the air around him. Hypnos pushed himself off the ground, some of his spines straightening and stiffening as they kept him off the forest floor. The rest of his spines lengthened and whirled around him, prepared to strike at the new found enemy.

He didn't want to fight, not at all liking the idea of harming another creature. But he had no choice. He couldn't let his friend get hurt. Cyclone was the one creature who had taken him in when he first landed on this world. And for that, Hypnos would never disobey him. Even if it meant he had to protect the gem from Shade.

Cyclone was the first to see the shadows slide across the forest floor below them. Using a moderate amount of energy, Cyclone forced the air to slice at the shadows.

"You think a bit of shadow is gonna beat us?" Cyclone taunted, watching the air shred some of the darkness. There was no reply; the shadows merely reformed as soon as they were destroyed. The shadows again launched themselves at the pair, the ends forming into hollow tendrils.

Hypnos weaved between the tendrils, using his spines to pierce them as he moved. He grew relieved when he couldn't sense any pain; as far as he knew the shadows weren't alive. Sensing coldness spread up his spines he quickly withdrew from the shadows, not wanting the tendrils to envelop him without warning. No matter what he did the tendrils closed in, pushing Hypnos further and further away from Cyclone.

Unlike his comrade Cyclone was having the time of his life. Whenever the tendrils got too close he merely sent out a wave of wind to disintegrate them. He was still going strong, and was beginning to think he was winning against the shadows.

"Are you actually going to come out and fight us or what?" He taunted loudly, disappointed that he wasn't struggling to stay on top. Then he felt an abrupt chilling disturbance form behind him. And this one was a whopper! Cyclone turned slightly to see what it was, and yelled out in surprise when he saw a humongous arc of darkness right on his tail. Like a ravenous cell the arc stretched around him. It cut his scream short as it quickly devoured him, forming itself into a perfect sphere around him.

Hypnos heard his comrade yell out in surprise and turned in time to see him being enveloped by the largest shadow he had ever seen.

'_Cyclone!' _He cried out. Without a second thought Hypnos charged at the sphere, ready to free his friend from his unusual prison. Within a few feet from the sphere he was surrounded by the tendrils, which began to wrap themselves around him smoothly. As they slid around him he could feel their coldness sweep into him.

'_Let him go!'_ He demanded, using his spines to rip the shadows off himself. There was no reply, but Hypnos swore he could sense Shade move right next to him. No doubt that he was heading towards Cyclone to investigate. By now Hypnos knew his friend would be attempting to channel energy from the air within his prison. Without any outside help Cyclone didn't have enough energy to break free. For a brief moment Hypnos thought of his options. Then he rapidly forced some of his energy through his large horns, creating and electrical charge. Swiftly, he sent the charge into the dense sphere, hoping it would reach his friend successfully. As if sensing his weakness the tendrils resumed their attack briefly, gripping him even tighter with their numbing darkness.

But then the sphere began to contract, a few streams of electricity pushing its way through to the outside world. It began to weaken; Cyclone forcing his way through the top like it was thick syrupy water. With one final charge of energy Cyclone broke free, catapulting from the top as the sphere melted into a shrinking puddle. With a sigh of relief Cyclone landed on a clean patch of dirt. He kept his eyes tightly closed, as if the outside world had brightened dramatically since being in the shadow.

"Whew!" Cyclone sighed. "That was almost too close for comfort!" As his fiery red eyes adjusted to the light he saw Hypnos struggling to free himself from the tendrils. He looked very tired and weary, and was almost shaking in the effort.

"Thanks for the energy boost." He added while shredding the tendrils that were trying to envelop his friend. He managed to rid Hypnos of some of the lesser tendrils, enabling him to move his arms and tail again. But there were still some larger ones wrapped around his torso and legs. They didn't look like they were doing anything other than keeping Hypnos still.

'_Cyclone behind you!'_ Hypnos warned, lashing some of his spines in Cyclones direction. Instantly Cyclone whirled, just in time to block a powerful punch. The creature was an exact duplicate of himself, if he was covered from head to tail in oily black goo.

"Let's see if you can beat this one." The shadow teased in Shade's voice. Without warning the shadow attacked, kicking Cyclone across the forest.

"Now this is more like it!" He cheered as he recovered, hurtling through the trees with the shadow in close pursuit.

Hypnos again struggled to break free, now knowing he had to fight this battle alone. Before long he heard the destruction of trees and rocks, Hypnos guessing that Cyclone resumed his fight with the shadow.

With each passing second Hypnos found it more and more difficult to fight; the shadows moving eagerly as they spread their coldness. With a dawning realisation Hypnos knew he was losing. In a last ditched effort he ripped himself away from the tendrils, and curled up into a ball as he rocketed up into the air. Quickly he wrapped all of his spines around him protectively, shutting himself off from the approaching tendrils. His spines stiffened, creating a sapphire shield that would deflect his attacker. He felt the tendrils close in, feeling for any possible opening. He knew this defence was a temporary reprieve, but this borrowed time would enable him to rest a little. At the very least it might distract Shade long enough for Cyclone to beat his duplicate and interfere. By now the darkness swallowed him, preventing another escape. Hypnos could sense a presence beside him. It was much too calm to be Cyclone.

"I can sense the gem on you, there's no point in hiding it." Shade remarked, his voice echoing quietly throughout the impenetrable darkness. The tendrils attempted to pry him open, trying to spread their darkness.

'_I will not let you have it.'_ He replied calmly while compacting his spines even tighter.

"Why do you follow Cyclone around? You're nothing like him." Again the shadows intensified, tiny streams seeping through the chinks in Hypnos' armour.

'_He is my friend.'_ He answered, his spines beginning to give way to the strain, _'He took me in and kept me safe when I came here.'_ He shivered slightly as the darkness broke through, _'I can't disobey Cyclone's orders.'_ He added tiredly, _'Not even when my life is at risk.'_ The tendrils slid all over him, smothering him with liquid darkness. He expected pain; instead, emptiness swept through him, shocking him into stopping his struggles.

There was nothing he could do. He couldn't fight, even if he wanted to. And he doubted Shade was foolish enough to look him in the eye. If he had heard of Cyclone's aerial attacks then he would most likely know about his hypnotic abilities. Otherwise, Hypnos would have used his abilities to make Shade leave them. Or probably make him forget about the gem to begin with.

Shade managed to locate the gem, and sent the shadows to relieve it from Hypnos' possession. Hypnos surrendered, no longer able to feel any part of his body.

"I should consider taking you with me." Shade spoke softly, more to himself than anyone else. "But that ego-maniac would probably rip the world apart to find you."

'_Why would you do that?'_ Hypnos asked groggily, feeling himself being moved by the tendrils. But he never heard a reply, though he did recall Shade giving him an odd look of pity.

Hypnos felt his body drip from the shadows, limply dropping to the leafy forest floor. When he opened his eyes again he saw a blur of leaves and branches. He could hear Cyclone cursing, hurling rocks and debris at Shade. Shade merely laughed as he danced from shadow to shadow, dodging rocks as they fractured the trees around him in shards of splintering wood.

Cyclone stopped and fumed quietly, watching Shade disappear with the maroon gem sparkling in his hand.

"Coward." He breathed, calming himself down. There was no sense in losing control now. If he did then he'd unleash a storm from within; both metaphorically and literally. He wasn't in the mood to become a living typhoon.

Hypnos awoke after a brief slumber, dreaming of what he could remember of home. He couldn't recall very much, but it didn't matter at the moment. Those memories would come back to him in good time.

He tried to move, only succeeding in tilting his head to the right. How long was he out? It was early in the evening now, the phosphorous shine of the full moon illuminating the trees around him.

'_Cyclone,'_ He called out, _'Are you near?'_

"Yeah yeah, I'm here." Cyclone huffed quietly, sitting on a fallen tree to Hypnos' right. He stifled a growl, aching from the various bruises and scratches which covered his body. Hypnos tried to move again, the numbness still dramatically affecting his movement. Not even his spines could twitch without great difficulty.

"Don't strain yourself." Cyclone warned, "You were in there for a while."

'_How did you beat the shadow?'_ Hypnos asked, distracting his friend from his pain. Again he tried to move, this time being able to force himself onto his hands and knees.

"That fake had nothing on me!" Cyclone scoffed proudly, "I just hurled a couple of rocks at him and he fell apart on me…" Hypnos laughed tiredly, almost collapsing again. Cyclone had almost sounded upset that the fight was over.

'_Can you never be just relieved for once when a battle is over?'_ Hypnos sighed, pushing himself onto his feet. Cyclone laughed, feeling the adrenaline still pump through his body. Happily Cyclone slid down the log, not caring about the extra scratches running down his back.

With marked patience Hypnos began to walk, his limbs jerking slightly as if they were attached to strings. Finally he made it next to Cyclone, collapsing at his side. Cyclone realised what his comrade was trying to do, and stopped him.

"I don't think you even have enough energy to heal me." Cyclone stated, clasping Hypnos' claws with his own.

'_But don't you want to get back the gem?'_ Hypnos asked. He leaned against the log beside him, feeling the scratch of the bark as he did so.

"Nah." He replied lazily, "If Eggman wants that gem he can go get it himself. It's not even a Chaos Emerald."

"And besides," He added, "I've heard that Shade gets more powerful at night."

'_So now we go home?'_ Hypnos almost pleaded. Cyclone chuckled lightly.

"Why not?" He asked rhetorically, "Shade can keep that blasted gem!" With that said he stood up proudly, pulling his friend up with him.

"Can you still glide?" He asked, concerned that he might have to carry his friend home.

'_I…think so.' _Hypnos replied, manipulating his spines rigidly.

As soon as he did so, the pair launched into the sky, turning into blurs of black and grey as they travelled towards home, where they could rest. And where they could eventually plan of a way to deal with their powerful new enemy.

The End


End file.
